Hizlip
by CaRBoHoLiC
Summary: Can Hizlip the Hydralisk save the Hive from its Terran enemy?
1. Default Chapter

The suns shone brightly, scorching the white sand until it felt almost like melted glass, while only a few centimeters underground it was comfortably cool. Tall, smooth mountains of hardened sand dunes rose to the east and west, giving the valley several dozen extra hours to freeze in the nighttime air.

But it had been almost two hundred hours since last night, so temperatures were well into their height.

The sound of Terran infantry and mobile forces was audible, even through this planet's thin atmosphere. It would be impossible for them to be more than half a kilometer away. A Zerg, badly scarred, once along the length of his head and once across his chest, waited patiently as they passed south - one minute became two, two became three - and he signaled his forty Hydralisk to unburrow. The tracks of the Terrans marred the once beautiful hill-sized sand dune they traversed.

They paused at the summit. The other Zerg, like himself, were becoming impatient. One of them nudged his shoulder. "Krillickse, when are we attacking?"

"Not much longer, I think. The Cerebrate will tell us when."

Another few moments and they were informed through the Zerg's ether that they had been spotted.

"All right, it's time," he said. They slithered forward, sliding down the slippery sand. Dozens or even hundreds of Terrans lay before them, tanks sieged and ready to blast away any Zerg. Valkyrie missile frigates hovered above in defensive position. Behind and to the sides of the Terrans the Zerg flowed down the white dunes, an ocean, a single entity, rushing upon them.

Krillickse headed his line of Zerg, diving headfirst into the melee. His entire carapace shook under the Marines' fire. He kept his head down, letting his heavily armored skull deflect the bullets showering down upon him. A Hydralisk nearby exploded from a direct Siege Tank shell and its charred remains showered down upon his crouched body. He crawled on, not giving the Terrans a moment to believe he would fear them. An Ultralisk barged through the Marines, giving cover for a group of Zerglings behind, and he followed. The Ultralisk trampled the Terrans while the Zerglings picked off survivors, ripping them to shreds with their razor-sharp claws.

He climbed atop a Siege Tank on the bloodied sand, mindlessly firing shell after shell. His scythes tore apart at the hatch, but as soon as he had ripped apart a small hole, pistol fire shot through the opening. He lowered his head and dropped inside with a limp thud, sparks ricocheting off his skull, and pounced on the officer with the pistol, quickly dismembering him and moving onto the driver.

The sounds of battle were unmuffled as he climbed back outside. A small party of Marines were passing by, slowly walking forward while unleashing their weaponry on the naked Zerg. He waiting quietly for several seconds as they passed, then slithered out behind them, tackling one of them and crushing his helmet in. The others turned back in surprise while he sprang through their fire and hacked away at the suit of another. One of the Marines ran up behind him and jammed his rifle into the opening in his carapace around his neck and fired into his spine. Krillickse fell to the ground, paralyzed.

He could hear the cries of his fellow warriors, their screeches of pain and death and murder. Their voices grew less and less numerous, being slaughtered by the dozen. The Terrans gave them no thought of mercy, fighting as artificially and mechanically as the weapons they built. They lived only to rape, pillage and destroy.

He couldn't give them the benefit of showing his fear. He would show no fear to these thoughtless, emotionless, empty animals. He would fight them to his last breath. And then he would be reincarnated and he would fight them again. He would fight them until there was no more fighting left.

Deep within the Hive, the Cerebrate lay in the Creep, his massive grublike body absorbing vital nutrients directly from the ooze, plotting his strategy. He had made good progress on this lonely planet thus far, skirmishing with the Terrans early on, keeping them from expanding and securing more resources while enlarging his own holdings. However, they recently recieved backup from one of the neighboring planets that had been overrun by the Terrans and soon lost. Their forces strengthened, their commander found unbeforeknown courage in his heart and quickly began razing one base after another. Now they were down to only a couple left, plus their main production base at his current location.

Krillickse had done an amazing job since his promotion to Hunter Killer and subsequent transfer, helping turn the tides against the human infestation. If only there were two of him!

His daydreaming was interrupted by the glaring presence of the Overmind's focus. "MY CHILD, WHAT TROUBLES THEE THIS HOUR?"

Now was his chance. If he could call in some reinforcements he could eradicate the Terrans once and for all - maybe even think about retaking the other planet in the system. "_Forgive me, Parent, but I believe I will lose this entire system. I cannot defeat them in such numbers..._"

"AND WHAT WOULD YOU HAVE ME DO, MY YOUNGEST? BEHOLD, THE TIME IS NOT YET RIPE TO OPEN A NEW GATEWAY TO YOUR WORLD, AND THERE ARE NONE OTHERS EXCEPT YOURSELF WHO CAN DO THIS TASK. FOR ALL THE MANY SERVANTS OF THE OVERMIND, THE ETERNAL WILL OF THE SWARM, ARE GIVEN THEIR OWN MISSIONS AND GIFTS, AND STRIVE DILIGENTLY TO SERVE AND OBEY ME. THUS THE HIVE YET EXISTS."

"_Please, sir, the Hunter Killer you have gifted me with has served me well, and I would... I would have another, sir._"

A short pause followed. The Overmind was considering it. "I WOULD HAVE YOU STRIVE THY BEST, MY CHILD. BIDE THY TIME AND SERVE ME WELL, AND YOU WILL BE GIVEN LIFE ETERNAL. FOR ALL MY SERVANTS SHALL LIVE AS LONG AS THE OVERMIND DOES EXIST."

Turned down, then. "_Yes, my Parent._"

AN: Is 'unbeforeknown' a word? Humm... unbeknownst, unknown before, unbeknown before... 


	2. Hizlip Chapter Two

The twin stars shone brightly in the noonday sky, performing their endless waltz together, both grappling arms and twirling around each other, neither leading the other, neither following, neither one gaining the upper hand. They spun for the sole sake of spinning, for the sheer joy of spinning. That's how they were born and also how they continued - they knew nothing else. And so they continued, for the sheer joy of not gaining the upper hand, never following, never leading, grappling arms and twirling, twin stars endlessly waltzing in the noonday sky.

Zerglings would chase one another, running after someone and hunting them until they were caught and then the game would begin over again. Some played tag or chase through the scattered Hatcheries, hiding behind their tendrils and surprising wandering Hydralisk or other Zerglings while their Overlords hovered above in watchful eye. Life was a happy game preparing them for the cruel realities of battle against the Terrans which would never be won.

The Hive slumbered on in perpetuity, dreaming a dream that only its enemies could awaken it from.

The rhythm of a heartbeat is part of that living dream, beating the time out longer than there were consciousnesses to count them. He didn't hear it; he felt it, moving slowly, heavily, overpowering his own smaller, quicker beat. The flesh walls around him convulsed, a third rhythm in between the heartbeats squeezing him out into the world. His larval body fell out of his mother Hatchery and into the Creep.

"Hizlip."

He looked back at her in bewildered wonder. Her monstrous, faceless monument offered no explanation.

"Hizlip!"

Everything came to him then: who he was, a Zerg; the Zerg, one of the many shades of life-form in this galaxy; the Terrans and Protoss, other life-forms entirely different hues from the Zerg and their enemies; the Overmind, the collective consciousness of the Zerg; so much, so fast, like waking up from a heavy sleep into a busy day. It was more than he could comprehend or recall all at once.

Dril'zlip called to him again. "Hizlip! Do you understand me?"

It made sense now, it all did, everything. "Dril'zlip! How're you today?"

Warmth flowed from her. "I'm very well, Hizlip."

"Mind if I call you 'Mammy?' 'Mammy' is my favorite!"

"No, Dril'zlip will be just fine. How are you, Hizlip? Do you have any mutations or complications?"

He wriggled his long body, shelled like a wood louse. "Nope, looks just fine. Nothing weird or anything. So what unit am I gonna be? I wanna be something cool like an Ultralisk or something!"

"That's not for us to decide, Hizlip," she said. "The Overmind knows which unit would be best for each of us, including you. We have to wait for the Cerebrate to let us know what He wants."

Hizlip groaned. "We have to _wait_? What's there to wait for? I know, I'll just talk with him. You know, kinda speed the process up a little."

"No, Hizlip, we can't just talk straight to him. We have to show proper respect and follow procedure, which means we wait until-"

He ignored her. The little larva searched through the Swarm, trying to find the Overmind. It didn't take very long, though; the Overmind is very large.

"Hey, Overmind! I'm just waiting here, and I was wondering-"

"AWAKEN MY CHILD, AND EMBRACE THE GLORY THAT IS YOUR BIRTHRIGHT-"

"Yeah, yeah, I was just wondering. Can you turn me into a unit yet? I was thinking of a really cool unit, like maybe a Devouring One or something?"

"... AND THAT YOU HAVE BEEN CREATED TO SERVE ME." He hadn't stopped talking - not that Hizlip had noticed.

"O-kay, so anyway, back to the unit order..."

"YES, MY CHILD. BEHOLD, WE ARE IN NEED OF MY MOST USEFUL SERVANTS. GO, AND STRENGTHEN THYSELF, THAT YOU MAY BE BETTER SUITED TO SERVE ME. FOR AS LONG AS THE OVERMIND EXISTS-"

Hizlip turned him off. He was back to the real world now, sitting in front of Dril'zlip.

"Okay, so I got that taken care of. You should be hearing from him practically any time now. You can go ahead whenever you're ready."

"I'm sorry, I'm not getting anything."

"Really? I just talked to him. He said I could be a Devouring One."

"He? You mean you talked to the Overmind?"

"Sure, why not?"

A short pause followed. "Honestly, I don't know what to say. In any case, I haven't gotten the order from the Cerebrate to change you into a Devouring One yet, and until I do, I can't change you."

"Well, maybe it's just processing. So what do the Zerg do on this planet for fun? Swat flies?"

"First of all, there are no flies on this planet, and secondly-"

"Yeah, I don't need the _whole_ story now, do I? Don't worry, I'll take care of it. I'll be back in a bit. I just have to, you know, find the hot spots, find out what's happening and everything. You let me know when you get that morph order."

He squirmed through the Creep toward the Spire he saw in the distance, but had only traveled a few meters before he lost control of his legs as they walked him back to Dril'zlip.

"Hey, what gives?"

"You're only a Larva, Hizlip. You can't leave my influence yet. You'll have to wait until you change into a stronger unit, and then you may leave."

_More rules._ "Figures. So, how's it coming?"

"Nothing yet, Hizlip. Wait, here it comes."

Hizlip felt himself curl into a crescent as his back swelled and created a leathery egg. His insides grew into it, leaving his hard exoskeleton to form the base of the egg. His head grew longer, his front legs merged into two long arms with scythes forming the forearms, and his back legs and abdomen grew into a long tail. Soon, after only an hour or so, his body was finished, and he scraped at the side of the egg to create a slit. After some small struggle, he squirmed out of it.

He looked at his new body in dismay. "_Hey!_ This isn't what I wanted!"

He was a new Hydralisk.

Hizlip poked at his hardening carapace. "Man, this sucks. I wanted to be a Torrasque or something! Let's do a redo!"

Dril'zlip curled her soft, white tentacles around him. "Hizlip, we don't get to choose what unit we are. Only the Overmind knows what unit is best suited for us. You know," she said. "I didn't want to be a Hatchery, either."

"You didn't?"

"No, I didn't. The truth is, I wanted to be a Scourge."

"_A Scourge?_ That's weird! They're so weak!"

"They're weak, yes, but they're very brave. And they get to tackle the biggest enemy ships because of that. That's why I wanted to be one." She caressed his face. "But you know, I'm glad I'm a Hatchery. I'm much happier this way than I think I would be if I were what I thought I wanted back then. The Overmind knows everything about us, and all we have to do is trust him."

Hizlip had to admit she did seem content, but he wasn't sure about that last part.

AN: What do you guys think of the chiasmus in the first paragraph? Is it too much? 


End file.
